Right Panning

Look below to see these same examples displayed graphically in an alternative view:

You can clearly see the differences between the four above sound examples within this Spectrogram view.

Composition Tip

Sounds that are positioned on top of each other will compete and cover each other. Therefore, to be able to hear all sounds clearly we should use the panning tool in order to shift sounds to the right or to the left.

If you want to give the impression of movement (for example, of an object passing by the listener), then why not use automation to pan the object from left to right over time.

Reintroducing Movement

If we slowly change the proportion of left and right channel sounds – increasing the sound level in one loudspeaker while decreasing it in another – we can create the impression of movement.

To hear how these sounds come to us from different locations can be a magnificent experience.

Activity

Imagine the following soundscapes:

Forest

Trees and nature surrounds us, creaks from trees can arrive from anywhere, an animal may make a cry from afar whilst another swoops very close to where you are sitting.

Insect sounds may surround you and sometimes you simply can’t quite tell exactly where they are coming from.

What else can you hear?

City

The city is all around us, so are its sounds. In fact, we often rely on our listening out for the location of sounds to keep us safe.

Think about the sounds of distant sirens from emergence vehicles, the sounds of cars and their horns whizzing past, the sounds of footsteps passing in the street and the sounds of aeroplanes overhead. The location that sounds come from doesn’t have to be static.

Think of traffic zooming past us. In fact, as a sound source changes its position/location we can often hear clearly how the sound changes.

Fact

Loudspeaker concerts use many loudspeakers to move sounds through a space. The loudspeakers are positioned all around the room, surrounding the audience.